Energy Efficiency

Consumer and environmental groups lashed out yesterday at a major New Jersey electric company that seeks to shrink its energy-conservation programs. But the utility says that, with a glut of cheap energy now available, such conservation programs are no longer cost-effective. Jersey Central Power and Light's proposal could foreshadow similar moves by other utilities in the region also seeking to capitalize on the lure of cheap energy from other parts of the country. Consumers would no longer receive discounts for limiting their use of appliances at peak energy times if the state Board of Public Utilities, which plans to decide on the plan by year's end, approves JCP&L's proposal.

In their continuing efforts to balance the state budget, the governor and lawmakers are considering eliminating a program designed to help Pennsylvanians make their homes more energy-efficient. Given the need to help citizens through a difficult economy while also addressing climate change, the program should not be facing such a threat. The Keystone Home Energy Loan Program provides the only low-interest loans available to homeowners looking to reduce their monthly utility bills and shrink their carbon footprints.

Jean P. Barr spent a bundle on insulation and other energy-efficiency improvements for her home - just in time for one of the warmest winters on record, which means she was denied the opportunity to gloat over just how much the work would save on her energy bills. But if the warm spring heralds an early start to a long, hot air-conditioning season, she may yet get that chance. Either way, she is convinced that an energy audit on her home and the resulting work recommended by the auditor - the result of an innovative regional program funded by $25 million in federal funds - is worth plenty.

John Downey, proprietor of the Silvercrest retirement home in Taunton, Mass., was visiting a friend's house in June. "What's that funny-looking light bulb?" he asked. He was told that it was a new kind of small, energy-efficient fluorescent lamp that uses 18 watts of electricity but puts out as much light as a 75-watt bulb and lasts 13 times longer, up to 10,000 hours. The Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant rents the compact "smartlights," which screw into ordinary sockets, to its customers for 20 cents a month.

Congress is eyeing a plan to enable home buyers and renters to compare the energy efficiency of homes in an attempt to cut down on the use of fossil fuels that have been blamed for the greenhouse effect. But housing-industry officials say that the proposed numerical rating system would unnecessarily complicate the home-buying process - because utility usage information is readily available - and would raise the cost of buying or renting a home. The building labeling plan is part of broader legislation introduced in February by Sen. Timothy Wirth (D., Colo.

Energy policy has a profound impact on nearly everything Americans hold important. The right policy can mean job creation, a thriving economy fueled by affordable energy and technological innovation, a cleaner environment, increased security, and a foreign policy liberated from energy dependence. Today, Americans are coping with the repercussions of the wrong national energy policy. Families struggle to pay the rising costs of heating their homes and fueling their cars. Businesses absorb the economic impact of poor electric reliability.

A New Jersey grant program that funds energy-efficiency upgrades at no cost to local governments closes next week, and nearly a third of the 512 eligible municipalities and counties - including dozens of South Jersey towns - have not enrolled. The program provides up to $50,000 for upgrades to lighting, heating, and cooling systems in municipal and county buildings with no matching funds required. A ratepayer-funded clean-energy program pays 60 percent. The remainder is federal stimulus money that must be allocated by March 31. In order to meet that deadline, the Board of Public Utilities has set a Dec. 31 end to enrollment, spokesman Greg Reinert said.

Scott Cannon is a history buff, so it didn't surprise his friends when he named his Delaware County development Yorktown 1781, for the decisive American victory of the Revolutionary War. But it's energy efficiency, not history, that's drawing attention to Cannon's houses these days. Yorktown 1781 Developers, of Boothwyn, was one of 15 builders nationwide to receive a 1996 EnergyValue Housing Award from the National Association of Home Builders Research Center in Upper Marlboro, Md. The awards, presented for the first time this year, are designed to recognize builders "who integrate energy efficiency into all aspects of their new-home production - from marketing and construction practices to energy performance," according to Christine Barber, a research center spokeswoman.

As the crisis in the Persian Gulf intensifies, the absence of a coherent national energy strategy becomes frighteningly evident with each ominous development. Just recently, President Bush called up the military reserves. The President's next step should be to unleash America's greatest - and safest - weapon against our crippling dependence on foreign oil: energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. America's current state of national energy insecurity was at least partially preventable.

Peco Energy Co., seeking to develop markets beyond slow-growth power generation and sales, has established a unit so that it can expand into the energy-services field. The utility announced that it had bought Energy Performance Services Inc., of Houston, and was merging it with an obscure Peco subsidiary called Heatac Energy Group, whose primary work was selling geothermal heat pumps. The new company, called Heatac Energy Performance Services Inc., will perform energy-efficiency consulting services, said William L. Bardeen, Peco's chief financial officer.

Good thing my clothes can't feel anything or talk. If they could, they'd surely berate me. I used to bathe them in nice warm water. These days, they're thrashing about in cold. From my viewpoint, it's all good. Cold water means they don't shrink, they don't fade, I save money by not using hot water, and — more to the point of this column — I'm helping the environment by not using as much electricity. According to most estimates, heating the water accounts for about 80 to 85 percent of the energy consumed by a typical batch of laundry.

Jean P. Barr spent a bundle on insulation and other energy-efficiency improvements for her home - just in time for one of the warmest winters on record, which means she was denied the opportunity to gloat over just how much the work would save on her energy bills. But if the warm spring heralds an early start to a long, hot air-conditioning season, she may yet get that chance. Either way, she is convinced that an energy audit on her home and the resulting work recommended by the auditor - the result of an innovative regional program funded by $25 million in federal funds - is worth plenty.

Households in the United States consume nearly a quarter of the nation's energy - 23 percent. When President Obama spoke about domestic energy production and energy efficiency in his State of the Union address last week - "the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy," he said - the cameras briefly panned to Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. He was smiling slightly and nodding. Before becoming energy secretary in 2009, Chu directed the Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, known for its work on energy.

Sharon Griswold washes and reuses plastic spoons to keep them out of a landfill. Her husband, David Theodorson, has a similar mind-set: He grew up happily hugging trees in Oregon. "Reduce, reuse, recycle," he says. For Griswold, 44, and Theodorson, 47, green attitudes do not end there. Emergency physicians who live with their three young children in Fort Washington, the couple have declared their concern for the environment in a way most of us haven't - they've built a sustainable green house.

To help 46 small businesses invest in energy-efficiency or pollution-prevention projects, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $293,889 in grants. Six businesses are in the Philadelphia region: Reeder House L.L.C., New Hope; Taylors Music Store & Studios Inc., West Chester; Strata Company, Plymouth; Aztec Products Inc., Montgomeryville; Strategic Domain Ventures, Harleysville, and Decatur L.P. in Philadelphia. To qualify for Pennsylvania's Small Business Advantage Grant Program, businesses must have fewer than 100 employees.

You may, perhaps, spot a garishly decorated Ford Escape cruising down your block in the coming months with a camera mounted on its roof. Yes, that SUV is snapping an image of your house. Mark Group, a home-weatherization firm, is launching a mobile thermal-imaging effort Thursday to identify buildings in the region that leak the most energy. The company calls its high-tech vehicle the HeatSeeker. One might think this is a gimmick to generate business for Mark Group, a British home-insulation giant that last year established its American beachhead at Philadelphia's Navy Yard.

Delaware County's municipalities are getting some greenbacks to help them get greener. Thirty-one of the boroughs and townships just received a combined $434,000 in grant money for energy-saving projects. They include LED traffic lights, new heating and air-conditioning units, indoor and outdoor lighting upgrades, and new windows. The money comes from a $3.6 million Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is overseen by the county.

NEWARK - New Jersey's long-term energy plan was praised Tuesday by energy advocates for promoting the installation of solar panels on brownfields and landfills, and criticized for failing to do enough to promote energy efficiency. More than 150 people filled a room for the first of three hearings on Gov. Christie's vision for meeting the state's energy needs for the next 10 years. Additional hearings on the draft energy master plan are scheduled next month in Trenton and Pomona. The suggestions presented during the public sessions could make their way into the final plan, which might be adopted by the end of the year.

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress voted on major issues last week: House National flood insurance. Voting 406-22, the House passed a bill (HR 1309) to renew the taxpayer-subsidized National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through 2016 and start key reforms. The bill authorizes the program to add $3 billion in new debt to the $17.8 billion it already owes the Treasury. The program insures about 5.6 million residential and commercial properties located in flood plains in 22,000 communities.

Ambler's most toxic locale could soon become one of its most eco-friendly, thanks to a final $2.5 million push from a regional coalition of governments. The $14.7 million effort to convert the contaminated former site of the Ambler Boiler House asbestos factory into energy-efficient office space is now fully funded with the extension of a loan this week from the Metropolitan Caucus' EnergyWorks program, area leaders said. The caucus, led by Mayor Nutter, is composed of council members and commissioners from surrounding counties.